The Last Time

The Last Time

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Copyright © 2014
by E. L. Todd

All Rights Reserved

ISBN-13: 978-1497369122

ISBN-10: 1497369126

The Last Time

Book Eighteen of the Forever and Always Series

E. L. Todd

“This is the last time I'm asking you this,
Put my name at the top of your list,
This is the last time I'm asking you why,
You break my heart in the blink of an eye.”

The Last Time
–Taylor Swift-

1

Sean

Dad finally got an appointment with the neurosurgeon, Dr. Youseff, at UCSF. He didn’t ask us to come with him, but we had to. While it wasn’t wise for both Mike and I to leave work, we knew we had to. But I wasn’t worried about that. The only thing I cared about was leaving my pregnant wife alone.

“Can you stay at the house and watch them?” I asked Ryan while we sat in the booth at the bar.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are they two?”

Mike didn’t laugh at the comment. “We’re serious. We’ll be gone for two days, and we can’t bring them along because they are pregnant.”

“Scarlet has been pregnant for, like, a day,” Ryan said. “She can fly.”

“No,” I said firmly. “Forget it.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “You’re going to make me live with my sister for two days? I can barely handle her for two minutes.”

“Please?” I asked.

He sighed. “Fine. Whatever. But for the record, Cassandra and Scarlet aren’t totally helpless. They were just fine before you two came along.”

“I’ll remember that when you have to go somewhere and leave Janice all alone,” Mike threatened.

“Have you met Janice?” Ryan asked incredulously. “I wouldn’t want to fight her. She’s got a mean punch, and her mind is devilish. That bitch is crazy.”

I smiled even though I didn’t want to. “You’ll watch them?”

“I already said yes,” Ryan said quickly. He shook his head while he ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck with three girls for two days. Kill me now.”

“Thanks,” Mike said. “We appreciate it.”

“Sure,” Ryan said. “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow,” I answered.

A serious look came into his face. “I hope everything is okay with your mom.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But it’s just a consultation, nothing too serious.”

“I’m sure Scarlet is upset she won’t be there,” Ryan said.

“Well…I haven’t told her yet.” I wasn’t looking forward to it. “I know she’s going to fight me with tooth and nail.”

Ryan laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“Cassandra is too far along to come,” Mike said sadly. “It makes me sick to leave her.”

“She’ll be fine,” Ryan said. “I’ll be there the whole time. I’ll take care of her.”

“I appreciate it,” Mike said. “I wish I didn’t have to go, but, I know my mom needs me. If it were anything else, I wouldn’t go.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me,” Ryan said.

“We’re cutting it close,” I said. “You
r wedding is coming up and we haven’t even had a bachelor party.”

“Who cares?
” Mike said. “It’s not that important anyway.”

“You
gotta have a bachelor party, dude,” Ryan said. “You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“We’ll have it as soon as we get back,” I said. “We can do it.”

“We’ll see,” Mike said evasively.

When I got home that night, Scarlet was in bed, which is exactly how I wanted her. She had her laptop on a tray so it wouldn’t press on her stomach. Books and notebooks were on the bed beside her.

“Honey, I’m home.”

She looked away from her computer and smiled at me. “I missed you.”

“I like the sound of that.” I sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her. “What did you do today?”

“Lay in bed,” she said with an attitude.

“Anything else?”

“I ate and took a piss.” The attitude was still there.

“Good.” That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. “How about a back massage?”

“I’m okay,” she said. “But thanks.”

I moved my hand to the back of her neck and rubbed gently. “Get any work done?”

“Yeah. I finished a book today.”

“Cool.”

“How was your day?”

I shrugged. “Pretty boring.”

“You say that every day.” She gave me a pointed stare.

“Well, it’s the truth.”

She nodded to the bags against the wall. “I packed everything for tomorrow.”

“You packed?” The anger escaped my voice.

“I mean Olga did. I told her everything I needed.”

Okay, that was better. But now I had to tell her the truth. “I’ve been thinking…”

She eyed me.

“I don’t think it’s
good for you to come along.”

“Why?” She seemed hurt.

“I don’t want you flying when you’re pregnant.”

“They advise you not to fly after your first trimester. I’ve only been pregnant for a few weeks.”

“Even so…I want you to stay here.”

“Sean, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not going to risk it,” I snapped. I didn’t mind arguing with her in general, but this was something I refused to compromise on. “Ryan is going to stay at the house along with Janice and Cassandra. You’ll be fine.”

“You asked my brother to babysit me?” Now she was pissed.

“I feel more comfortable knowing a man is here.”

“God, you’re such a sexist pig.”

“I’m just trying to protect you!”

She started to get red in the face. “Sean, this is really important, and as your wife, I should be there.”

I knew I got her really upset. I was pissed and about to explode, but I calmed my emotions. She and I couldn’t fight anymore. I needed her to stay calm. I lowered my voice to whisper. “Believe me, I want you to be there. This has been really hard on me, and you’re the only person that can make me feel better. But, I have to put you first.”

That calmed her down slightly. “But I’ll be fine.”

“Even so, it’s not worth it to me. I’ll only be gone for two days.”

She glared at me. “I still don’t need Ryan to watch me.”

“He’s not watching you. He’ll just be here if you need anything. It’ll be fun. You and the girls can pick on him and drive him crazy.”

A wicked look came into her eyes. “Well, that’s always fun.”

I kissed her hand. “Baby, I’m so sorry about all of this. I don’t mean to punish you. I’ll just be able to sleep better knowing you’re here.”

She sighed. “I feel horrible leaving you alone to deal with this.”

“ I got Mike,” I said immediately. “He’s my best friend.”

“Okay…”

I kissed her forehead then wrapped my arms around her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered.

Now that she was calm, I felt better. It was my job to keep her calm and stress free. I took my responsibility very seriously.

“When do you leave?”

“In the morning.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, baby.”

Mike and I joined my parents at the airport the next morning.

“
Where’s the girls?” my dad asked as we handed our tickets to the flight attendant.

“Cassandra can’t fly past her first trimester,” Mike explained.

“That’s right,” my dad said. “I’m surprised you left her.”

“Ryan is watching her.”

My dad looked at me. “Why isn’t Scarlet here?”

“I didn’t want her to fly either,” I said.

“Wow.” He looked at both of us. “I’m surprised both of you guys could part from them.”

“We belong here,” I said. I knew my dad appreciated our presence more than he let on. He acted strong for my mom, but I knew he was scared to death. While I hated leaving my wife, I knew my parents, the people who did everything to give me a good life, needed me. Mike understood that too.

Mike and I sat by the window while my parents took the seats in the center of the plane. My dad held my mom’s hand, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was hard to believe they’ve been married for twenty-five years. After everything they’ve been through, they never got sick of each other. I hoped Scarlet and I would be that way some day.

Mike kept checking his phone, and I knew why. “They’re fine.”

He put it back in his pocket. “Now I understand why you’re so annoying with Scarlet.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“I feel like an ass for leaving her.”

“Don’t. I’m sure Cassandra understood.”

“She did,” he said simply.

After we landed in San Francisco, it was still early in the morning due to the time change. We grabbed our luggage then took them to the hotel. After we had lunch and killed a few hours, we went to the medical building at UCSF and waited for the appointment.

I was nervous, really nervous. I hated the uncertainty of what would happen. Any decision we made could be detrimental. The stress was too much. How was my dad being so calm about this? My mom’s life was on the line.

We were finally ushered into the patient room. My dad had a copy of all of her lab work and test results for the doctor to see. My mom sat down and kept her hands in her lap.

Silence.

My mom was too young to go through this. She was only fifty years old.
My dad was always the one who talked about dying, not my mom. I hated to admit it, but I was scared. I really wished my wife were with me. When she was around, I could be myself. I knew Mike missed Cassandra too, more than he was letting on.

Dr. Youseff finally walked in. He had a thick beard and bushy eyebrows. He looked older than my dad. But experience was good. “Hello. How are you?” A thick accent clouded his speech.

“Hi.” My dad shook his hand and took the lead. “Good. How are you?”

“Very well.” He looked through my mom’s chart then faced my dad. “Your primary care doctor told me you’re interested in discussing the surgery.”

“Yes,” my dad said firmly. “I want to know what her options are.”

“Well, I’ve performed many similar surgeries in my lifetime. Despite my experience, there’s always a possibility of a negative side effect.” He handed my dad a sheet. “Here’s extensive detail about the procedure if you’d like more information. I’m going to examine Mrs. Preston now.” He gathered his supplies and attended to my mom. My father sat down and read through the paperwork.

Even though it was cold in the room, I was sweating.

My father flipped through the pages and skim
med through lines he already read. “The mortality rate is five percent?”

“Yes,” the doctor said without looking at him. He scribbled on his chart.

“That’s really good, am I wrong?” my dad asked.

“We’re very proud of our quality of patient care. But keep in mind that surgery is still surgery, Mr. Preston. You risk the possibility of bleeding, stroke, and infection, which can happen later.”

My dad nodded. “I fear if we do nothing, it will develop into cancer and cause far more problems in the future.”

“I understand.”

My dad stared at the wall for a long time, lost in thought.

When Dr. Youseff was done, he returned his stethoscope to his neck and made a few notes. “Have you decided anything?”

My dad turned to my mom. “I would like to speak to her in private.”

“Certainly.” He adjusted his coat then left the room.

My mom stared at my father, looking for direction. She was hard-headed and stubborn, but she usually turned to him during serious situations. “What are you thinking, Andrew?”

He placed his hands on his hips. “I think it’s worth the risk. You’ll never have to worry about it turning into cancer. You’ll be free of the stress. But this is ultimately your decision, Diane. I’ll support whatever you decide.”

My mom clenched her hands tightly then looked at Mike. “What does my baby think?”

Mike put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I think you should do it.”

She nodded slowly then turned to me. “Sean?”

I didn’t like the idea of my mom having surgery, but it seemed like the smartest move. The
mortality rate was low, and the doctor seemed to be confident. “I agree with Dad.”

She nodded again. “Well, I guess that’s it…”

“Diane, what do you think?” my dad said firmly. “Don’t let us talk you into anything.”

“I guess I’m just scared.”

He rubbed her shoulder. “It’s okay to be scared,” he said gently.

“But…I don’t want to worry for the rest of my life. If the surgery is successful and there are no complications, it would be worth it.”

My dad stared at her for a long time. “You’re sure?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He kissed her forehead. “Then that’s what will do.”

“When?” Mike asked.

My dad placed his arm around my mom’s shoulders. “Whenever your mother is ready.”

“Let’s wait until after Mike’s wedding,” she said. “I want to make sure I get to see my oldest son start his own family.”

“Mom, don’t talk like that,” Mike said. “You’re going to be fine.”

“My decision still stands.”